Thursday 7 April 2022
COVID 19 has created the opportunity to strengthen the existing health system and mSupply system is one of the strategies that the National Control Centre is using to monitor, report and coordinate essential lifesaving commodities.
Implementation of the mSupply rollout to 22 provinces is anticipated to be complete before the end of this year 2022.
The mSupply is a management information system (LMIS) developed by Sustainable solutions to improve real-time reporting of health commodity movement and actual usage of drugs and supplies.
It also fills in the gaps in the pharmaceutical SCM cycle: product selection,
quantification and procurement and inventory management.
Since the endorsement of mSupply in 2013 by the National Department of Health as the recommended LMIS, the system has been rolled out to various national facilities, regional and provincial medical stores, all health facilities (Level 2, 3, 4, 5,6 & 7), provincial disease control offices (PDCO), TB basic management units (BMUs), ART clinics and vaccine stores.
The mSupply rollout and system has been supported by a series of funds by the
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GF) since 2013 and Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (mSupply mobile project 2019-2020), WHO, UNICEF and other partners.
Under the GF support and the World Vision as the implementing partner since 2001, mSupply has been installed in 39 facilities including all Area Medical Stores and 18 provincial hospital pharmacies.
In 2019, DFAT provided funding to pilot mSupply mobile to lower level facilities, 60
health centres in Morobe Province, 22 PDCO, 18 ART clinics and 10 TB BMUs.
At the end of 2021, with funding from the Government of Japan through UNICEF and Sustainable Solution/mSupply Services PNG Ltd as implementing partner, mSupply mobile has been rolled out to at least 278 health facilities in nine provinces and all the 22 provincial vaccine stores.
Additionally, WHO has provided funding support to strengthen COVID-19 supply chain management at the COVID-19 National Control Centre and 22 provincial control centres.
NDoH acknowledges the various support provided by partners/donors to improve the pharmaceutical supply chain management in the country.
Through the leadership of the Controller of the National Pandemic Response Mr David Manning and Deputy Controller Dr. Daoni Esorom, the Logistics & Supply Cluster at the NCC has been allowed to take mSupply out of the shadows and truly show what it can do for the National Health System challenges like lack of proper policies, control mechanisms and Standard of Procedures.
Issues like the Propofol drug use, distribution and supply could have been availed at a lower management level if mSupply was in proper use.
The tracking of all commodities both medical and non-medical can be maintained
and monitored through mSupply.
mSupply is not the only supply chain system that can do this; it’s not the first and it’s not the last, it’s not the best or the worse – but it is a system tool that decreases the possibility of disadvantages in any organization’s management of their services to their customers that in return increases the productivity of the organization and helps to delivery basic and essential medical drugs right down to lower facility levels.
The National Control Centre was supposed to implemented this supply chain last year however due to the surge it postponed it to this year 2022.
The implementation will be conducted in two phases;
• Phase 1 will prioritise implementation / integration at the national level (COVID-19 Central Store, Central Public Health Laboratory) and the first eight provinces reporting highest COVID-19 cases (NCD, Western Province – Kiunga & Daru, Morobe, East New Britain, Western Highlands, Eastern Highlands, West Sepik and West New Britain).
• The Phase 2 will follow upon the completion of Phase 1, focusing on the remaining 14
provinces.
Under this implementation plan, the COVID-19 store will have a similar distribution
system to TB & HIV commodities. That is, the COVID-19 Central store will manage
quantification, procurement, storage, and distribution of commodities to the Area Medical Stores and provincial facilities as agreed with the PHAs.